Overshoes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This scarce example of a pair of toe protectors employs refined shaping and attention to detail that preserves the dainty feeling of the shoes over which they were worn. It is hard to see however, how much actual protection they would have provided. As elastic had not yet been invented, the heel strap is constructed of a small metal spring covered in white kid. This style of overshoe became obsolete when heelless shoes attained dominance in the late 1810s, but was revived in an all-rubber form at the end of the century.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art